Vending-machine.



1. K. coonmcu.

VENDING MACHINE APPLICATION FILED MAY 8, 1916- Patented Oct. 9,1917.

' 3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

- 34mm" or, \Mmmv Patented Oct. 9,1917.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

J. K. GOODRICH.

VENDING MACHINE.

nwu cmou rwzo MAY a. 1916.

W CA Q x J. K. GOODRICH.

VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 8. I916.

1,242,681. I Patented 0%. 9,1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

f STATEg AT" I JOHN K. Gootamam ATLAivrA, GEORGIA, nss enoajroitornfair'h; Gaming ,ATLANTA, eEoneIA. I a

VENDING-MACHINE.

maac ei; i

Y To all whom it may 0011061711: 7

Be it known that I, JoI-IN; K. GooDRIoH, a citizen of the United States, residingat Atlanta, in the county of Fulton and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vending-Machines,-;

of which the following is a specification.

The present invention appertains to improvements in vendingxmachines, and particularly to that type designed to deliver small articles through the instrumentality of coin operated mechanism.

This mechanism, which is the essence of,

the invention, embodies a delivery member for delivering the articles vended in a predetermined quan-tity under the control of a coin of a certain value, and means adapted to preclude the successful utilization of a coin or coins of improper: value as deter minedby the sizeof the same, aswell as the materialor metal;

The machine as hereinbefore set forth is particularly designed to vend sphericalobjects, such" for instance as chewing gum or other commodities, madeup into this form, but it is within the purview of the invention that its mechanism may be readily adapted to vend articles of a different character without departing from the spirit of said. invention and, one of the objects in mind, it may here be stated, isto provide means coiiperating with the spherical artides and operable by the mechanism for preventing these spheres from becoming packed and thereby rendering the appara tus inoperative.

- The above and such other objects as may hereinafter appear are attained by the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter specifically' de scribed and claimed. Reference will now be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, wherein: Figure 1- is a front elevation-of the lower portion of a vending machine constructed in accordance with my invention. I I

Fig. 2 is a'vertical sectional-view. Fig; 3 is a similar section on the line 3-3 of-Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view on the line H of Fig; 2.

SpecificationofLetters Patent. Get. 9, 1917. I I Applicationfi1ed'May.8;1916; Serial Nb. 96,221; I I I the coin slot on plane indicated by the line 7-7 of Fig.2.

Fig. 8, is a detail perspective viewshow--v mg certain-parts, of the coin operated mechanism in separated condition. 7

Fig. 19 .is a horizontal sectional view. through the coin chute taken about on the.

I reference characters. Referring to the drawings and specifically S lgna-tes a receptacleiof any desired shape describing the invention, the numeral 1 desand configuration, that "disclosed in the drawings being however, the preferred embodiment. This receptacle is divided into an upper compartment 12, preferably glass paneled, toreceive the articles to be vended by the machine, and a lower compartment, 3 in which the operating mechanism for the" machine is contained, said lowercompartment also constituting"thewco-in receptacle as will hereinafter be more fully set forth.

Access tothe upper compartment 2 is provided by the removable cover plate-4:

locked on the casing or receptacle bya' specially formed screw I- requiring a special key (not shown) to remove the same, The panels ofglass for the uppercompartment are pre'ferably'of heavy material" and are detachably'held in. place in anydesired, manner, and subject to replacement'in' the event ofbreakage. The: lower or baseportion of the upper compartment is formed with a-central circular recess or depression 6 within which is revolubly mounted a delivery member 7 consisting-of a plurality of pockets 8 and fiXe'dlysecured to a vertically arranged shaft: 9 extending in'tothe lower compartment 3. At the forward portion of the-lower compartment islocateda delivery chute 10 leading to an opening 11 in the recess. 6 above referred to and atv its lower end to the opening1-2 in the front wall of the receptacle adjacent to the shallow pan 13 adapted to receive thexarticles vended from the apparatus as delivered by the mechanism hereinafter described.- Attached to the base'of the compartment 2 is a guard plate ltprojecting over the recess 6 and a delivery pocket of the delivery member which happens to be in registry with the openino" 11 leading to the chute 1.0, This guard plate obviously prevents more than a single article from being delivered by the machine as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art to which this apparatus relates.

The upper end of the shaft 9 has fixedly secured thereto a helical grooved spool. or body 15 which rotates with the shaft and with the delivery member and is designed to prevent the commodities from packing thereover in such a way as to prevent the delivery of the spheres by the delivery member. In other words, the spherical bodies or objects have a lifting movement imparted thereto by this grooved element'centrally of the compartment and such movement tends to relieve the delivery member from pressure by the surrounding articles which are agitated and thus permitted to fall into the pockets of the delivery member as the same revolves.

The lower compartment 3 contains the mechanism for operating the delivery member as above described and access to said compartment is gained by removing the rear door 16, also secured in place by special attaching means requiring a special key. The shaft 9 has secured thereto intermediate its length a coin receiving plate 17 which it will be observed is provided with a plurality of substantially radially arranged slots 18. These slots are not vertical but are provided with inclined walls, the material from which the plate is formed being cast with pendent flanges or lips 19 so as to afford a desirable surface area for cooperation with the coin, by means of which this element is rotated. The slots 18 are arranged to be moved into proper relation below the rear end of a coin chute hereinafter described so that a coin will fall into the respective slots in carrying out the operation of this machine. The rotation of the plate 17 will obviously rotate the delivery member 7 and such member is given a step by step movement so as to insure a proper positioning of the slots of the receiving plate 17 with respect to the coin chute above referred to.

When a coin is introduced into the receptacle through the slot 20 in the face of the machine, if it is a proper coin, it is con veyed to the coin plate 17 by the coin chute 21 and falling into the slot therebeneath is prevented from passing therethrough by coming into contact with a supporting plate 22 projecting laterally from a bracket 23 attached to the casing 1. One edge of this plate is apertured to receive the vertical shaft 9 and to provide a bearing therefor. In this position the coin is held just in advance of the edge of an actuating member 24: journaled on the shaft 9 and operable be tween the supporting plate 22 and the coin receiving plate 17. This actuating member is adapted to be operated by the hand lever 25 carried by the-outer extremity of a horizontal shaft 26 in convenient position for actuation by the operator after inserting the coin into the apparatus. The rock shaft 26 carries a fixed arm 27 which is operatively connected to the actuating member 2 1 by a link 28. This rock shaft 26 is normally held by a spring 29 surrounding the shaft and connected to the arm 27 in its initial or inoperated position, being returned to this position by the action of said spring subse:

quent to the performance of the operation. It will be obvious that pressure on the lever 25 in the direction of the arrow on the face of the machine casing 1 will rock said shaft and cause the actuating member 24 to impinge the coin which, by reason of its position with'respect to the coin receiving plate 17, rotates said plate a single step, the coin droppmg from the slot in the plate as soon as the coin passes the edge of its supporting plate 22. At this point the coin drops into the lower compartment 3.

The foregoing described movement brings one of the pockets 8 of the delivery member with its object therein beneath the guard plate 14: and over the opening leading to the delivery chute through which it passes to the receiving pan 13.

The accurate positioning and prevention of accidental displacement of the member 17 in the step by step rotation of the delivery member is provided by thestar wheel 30 secured to the shaft 9 and the pivoted arm 31 held in engagement with said wheel by the spring 32, said arm carrying a bearing roller 33 engaging between the projections of the wheel 30 and facilitating the operation in a well known manner;

Passing now to that feature of the mechanism of this apparatus which performs a particularly important function with respect to the operation, namely, the fraud prevent ing means broadly, it will be noted that the coin chute 21 is sectional in form. In other words, one side 21 of the chute is relatively stationary, while the opposite side 21 is hingedly mounted at21 so as to permit the chute to be opened for the purpose of releasing coins or similar objects that may be retained or held therein for reasons hereinafter set forth. At one side of the coin chute and secured to the forward wall of the receptacle is a magnet 31, preferably of the horseshoe type having its termini arranged directly adjacent to the stationary side of the chute 21 and it may here be mentioned that the material of which the coin chute is constructed is of a suitable nonmagnetic composition.

As shown most clearly in Figs. 7 and 9, the lower longitudinal edges of the sides of the coin chute are provided with ledges 35, 36 extending the greater portion of the length of the chute but cut away at its inner end so as'to form the opening 38 (see Fig. 9) through which a coin of proper valu'e':

and material "will drop into place in the coin receiving plate 17 'therebeneath. Fur

thermore, it will be noted that the ledge 36 token or coin which is thinner than theproper coin for operating the machine is in serted into the receptacle it will 7 fall through the chute 'at this'portion, dropping into the lower compartment 3 and not pass ing to the coin'receiving plate. This would be the action of any article which is passed;

into the chute that will not be affected by the magnet 34 but if such token should be of 'material that will be affected by said magnet it will be caused to lodge against the side 21 of the chute vby reason of the at traction of the magnet. Any coin or object which isthus affected. or which is for other reasons lodged at this point may readily be displaced preliminary to the insertion of another or proper coin by opening the chute as will now be described. Attached to the actuating member or segment 2.4 whichis operated each time the manipulating lever is depressed, is an inclined arm 89, whichupon said movement of the lever is brought into contact with an arm 40 extending rearwardly from the hinged section of the coin chute 21 so that this section will be actuated and sep arated from itsopposite section. Attached to the forward end of this movable section is ,a yieldable member 41 which is so bent as to position the greater portion of its length parallel with the sides of the chute'and substantially in the plane of the stationary side 21 of said chute, the last mentioned side heingcut away to permit the member 41 to occupy-this position. 1t,'theref ore, follows that a coin or object which has lodged at this point of the chute, due to the attraction of the magnet 34, as hereinbeforedescribed, orfrictional engagement with the spring 41 if of improper- 'size, will be dis-f lodged upon theiopening of the chute section in the manner just referred to so that said coin is dropped intothe lower compartment withoutihaving performed the func tion of enabling the rotation of the delivery' memberas would have been permitted had the-coin passed through the chute into place in the coin receivingelement 17. It will be observed also by reference to Figs. 4, 5and 7 that the coin chute is inclined in its norr mal position from the vertical plane-andalso that the movable section 21 2is provided with a lateral opening 42 through'which a false token or coin-as the case may be will fall if it is of smaller circumferentialdimensionthan thenormal operating coin but not of a thickness to permit it to pass through the bottom of nthechute as would a thin token in the manner hereinbefore described; The

passage of such: a. device'through"this' aperture is assisted-by the'resili'e'nt member 41,

the free extremity of which tends to; act 'asa spring to cause this displacement. It should also. be borne in mind that the inclination of the chute tends to permit such false tokento fall through this aperture where the size of this-member is such that-the upper edge of the same willipass through the opening-22.

It will be obvious that this construction of coin controlled meanswill provide a chute which is not susceptible of being choked and V which will practically prevent" fraudulent operation of the apparatus by-devices which are improper 1n size or whlch are of 1mproper material.

connected to the arm 40 and at its other end tothe end of the arm 31. The latter member is thus common to both of the springs 44: and32.

It will be noted that the preliminaryactuation ofthe lever 25, assuming thata'coin is in proper positioni'n the receiving plate 17 will cause the rotation of the delivery member of the apparatus andonly a partial depression of this lever isnecessary to accom plish the particular step of rotation required to deliver" one of the objects. This partial movementof the actuating means is notsufficient to bring'the'arm 39 into contact with the chute arm 40 to open the sections of the chute and thus 'where there is"an1ab sence of acoin in the receiving member 17 I but the chute sections are desired to be separated the leveris given its full sweep of movement to'bring the arm 39 into contact with the arm 40, Any ObjGCb' Wh-lCh has lodged in the coinchute 21;will thereupon be released. v I I It will'be apparent from the foregoing description that, the vending apparatus hereinbefore described isvery compact in form and I desire'it-to be understood that slight The movable coin chute section 21 is held in its normal position by means of the spring 44 whicha-t one endischangesmay be made in the details of 'con struction and arrangement of parts without departing from thespirit of the invention and "within the scope of the claims hereto appended. I

Having thus-described my invention, what Iclaim as newisf 1. In a vending machine, the combinationof a member to be operated, coin operated means for actuating said member, an open able coin chutefor delivering'a coin to "the: coin operated means, and holding means '00- operating with the memberto be operatedincluding anarm andtension mean'ssoconnected to the arm 'as-totenjdto maintain'th'e hold, ing means in the cooperative position afore'e said whereby the'memb'er' to be operated is held against accidental y displacement and connected also to the chute whereby to hold 2. In a vending machine, the combination with coin operated mechanism including an operating member therefor, of a coin chute for controlling the delivery of coins to said mechanism and comprising a movable section operable by the operating member aforesaid, and an engaging element carried by the movable section for holding an improper coin or token when introduced into the chute from passage therethrough and for displacing said token from the station-. ary portion of the chute upon actuation of the operating member.

8. In a vending machine, the combination with coin operated mechanism including an operating member therefor, of a coin chute for controlling the delivery of coins to said mechanism and comprising openable sections, one of said sections being operable by the operating member aforesaid, and a fric tional gripping element mounted on the last mentioned section for engaging an improper coin or token introduced into the chute and temporarily holding the same until the sections are opened, said gripping element being freely yieldable at one end and movable across the slot when the operable section of the chute is actuated to strip the coin from the slot.

4c- In a vending machine, the combination with coin operated mechanism including an operating member therefor, of a coin chute for controlling the delivery of coins to said mechanism, means at one side of the chute for holding a false coin or token and thereby preventing passage of said coin through the chute, and ejecting means extending longitudinally of the chute in juxtaposed rela tion to the last mentioned means and slightly into the path of the coin introduced thereinto and operable by the operating member to positively displace said coin from the chute.

5. In a vending machine, the combination with coin operated mechanism including an operating member, of a sectional coin chute for controlling delivery of coins to the said mechanism including a movable section, friction means on one of said sections to en gage and hold a coin, magnetic means adj acent to the chute for holding a false coin therein from passage through said chute, and means connected to the movable section arranged to be impinged by the operating member aforesaid whereby to release said false coin upon operation of the operating member and opening of the chute sections.

6. In a vending machine, the combination with coin operated mechanism, of a coin chute for controlling delivery of coins to said mechanism including a movable section, means for retarding passage of a false coin through said chute, and aresilient member attached to the movable section for dislodging coins of a certain character from the chute when closed and coins of another character when opened.

7. In a vending machine, the combination with coin operated mechanism, of a coin chute for controlling delivery of coins to said mechanism including'a movable section, means for retarding passage of a false coin through said chute, and a resilient member attached to the movable section for dislodging a false coin of a certain size from th chute when the section is stationary orv a lodged coin when said section is actuated,

the wall of the stationary portion of the chute being cut away to accommodate said resilient member, one of said chute sections having a lateral opening through which the false coin is adapted to pass when smaller than the opening assisted by the resilient means aforesaid.

8. In a vending machine, the combination with coin operated mechanism, of a sectional coin chute comprising spaced sides, one of said side members being movably mounted, means on said chute sections for supporting a coin during passage therethrough, said supporting means comprising cooperating ledges, one of said ledges being tapered toward the mouth of the chute to provide an opening through the chute adjacent said mouth for releasing false coins or tokens inserted thereinto thinner than the desired coin, means cooperating with the chute for retarding passages of coins of improper material therethrough, and means for discharging the last mentioned false coins from the chute upon actuation of the operated mech anism.

9. In a vending machine, a coin chute having a discharge opening for false coins or tokens, means for discharging such coins of less than a predetermined size through said opening, said means constituting retaining means for coins of a size greater than those dischargeable through the opening as aforesaid, and means for actuating the retaining means to effect discharge of the oversize coins last mentioned.

.10. In a vending machine, a coin chute having a discharge opening for false coins or tokens, means for discharging such coins of a predetermined size through the discharge opening or retaining coins of a greater size in the chute, separate means for retaining coins of improper material in said chute, and means for actuating the first mentioned discharging means to thereby positively discharge the retained coins from the chute.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature.

JOHN K. GOODRIGH.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing" the Commissioner of Eatents, Washington, D. U. 

